Tell us about your community growing up. Looking back, how did they shape who you are now?

I grew up in Grand Junction, a small high desert community on the western slope of Colorado, close to the Utah border. My father came from the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado (an area previously part of Mexico) where la familia Márquez has farmed and ranched in the Antonito/Conejos area for many generations. Dad served in the Air Force, and through a program in the military at that time, was given the opportunity to attend law school. After completing his military service, he worked for Colorado Rural Legal Services and the Colorado Attorney General’s Office before later becoming the first Hispanic district court judge in Grand Junction, and then the first Hispanic judge on the Colorado Court of Appeals. My mother grew up in a little town called Anadarko, Oklahoma. She taught public school. My parents dedicated their careers to public service and taught me and my sister the importance of using your talents to make the world a better place. Growing up in Colorado, our family spent most weekends hiking, camping, fishing, and backpacking in the mountains, and snowshoeing and cross-country skiing in the winter. I grew up with a deep respect and appreciation for the wilderness and for rural communities and values.

Describe your journey to law school. What motivated you to apply?

After college, I served two years in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in the early 1990s as a teacher and community organizer in Camden, NJ, and West Philadelphia. Those urban environments were utterly foreign to me, coming from Grand Junction. You cannot go through an immersion experience like that and not emerge fundamentally changed. At times it was overwhelming; I did not feel equipped to educate my students, let alone help them navigate or overcome the many systemic inequalities they faced. But I fell in love with teaching, and I learned so much from my students. It was also during those JVC years that I found the courage to accept the fact that I was gay. That journey wrought a lot of heartache because I knew it would (at least initially) devastate my parents, I knew it could get me fired, and I knew it could get me beaten up on the streets of Camden. Looking back, I’m sure my parents were terrified for me, and with good reason. The injustices that I both witnessed and personally experienced during my JVC years were what inspired me to go to law school. Through a series of accidents and minor miracles, this kid from Grand Junction somehow landed at Yale Law School. I have to laugh now, because as a kid, the two things I swore I would never do was become a teacher (like Mom) or a lawyer (like Dad). I was going to be an astronaut! (Actually, my secret wish was to become a Jedi Knight and fly an X-wing fighter!) And sure enough, what did I do? I became a teacher, and then a lawyer. Clearly, they had more influence on me than I was willing to admit. Good thing!

What was your law school experience like?

Landing at Yale Law School was a dream come true, to be sure. But to be honest, I often felt incredibly lonely and unsure that I had any business being there among these students who seemed so brilliant and accomplished. (There weren’t words then for what I was experiencing, but today we call it “imposter syndrome.”) There were very few Latino students, and essentially no other openly LGBT women. There was no one on the faculty at that time who shared my background. But the best part of law school ended up being my classmates. On a whim, I joined an intramural softball team my first semester, and those classmates/teammates became lifelong friends – extraordinary, good people, without whom I never would have survived. One of the best classroom experiences I had was a seminar on capital punishment taught by adjunct professor Stephen Bright from the Southern Center for Human Rights. He taught us not only the substantive constitutional law in that area, but the nuances of criminal procedure, jury selection, trial strategy, appellate procedure, postconviction law, and even courtroom skills. It was inspiring, and it led me to spend part of my 2L summer at the Equal Justice Initiative in Alabama (headed by Bryan Stevenson), doing postconviction defense work for defendants on Alabama’s death row.

Did you know about appellate work in law school? If not, when and how did it first get on your radar and why were you drawn to it?

I was aware of appellate work in law school because by then, my father was serving on the Colorado Court of Appeals. But I was initially drawn to trial work and thought I would become a trial lawyer. I clerked for a federal trial judge and loved it. But then I did a second clerkship for a federal appellate judge and to my great surprise, I discovered I loved the appellate work even more! I was drawn to the intellectual rigor of dissecting the legal issues and figuring out the “right” answer – and then explaining it in writing. I also discovered that I enjoyed appellate arguments even more than cross-examination at trial. I enjoyed trying to anticipate the questions from the bench and developing responses to those questions while relaying my key points and themes. As an appellate judge now, I thoroughly enjoy oral arguments, and I am genuinely interested in hearing the attorneys’ responses to the court’s questions. We have a very collegial court and a very polite atmosphere at oral argument – we engage in thoughtful back and forth with counsel to seek the best possible answer to the legal questions before us.

Tell us about one of your appellate cases that you found particularly meaningful.

Early in my career at the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, I had the opportunity to work on major congressional redistricting litigation that presented novel issues of federal and state constitutional law. I was honored to be part of a team that took those cases to the Colorado Supreme Court, and later, to federal district court and the U.S. Supreme Court. It was a fascinating experience to learn about the redistricting process and its connection to voting rights in this country. The five years I spent litigating those cases led me to view the right to vote as foundational to all other civil rights. It also cultivated in me a deep respect for the rule of law and the role of state government in our democracy.

How often do you encounter Hispanic people in the appellate field? Why do you think that representation is important?

I’m lucky to serve on the Colorado Supreme Court with Justice Carlos A. Samour, Jr., who immigrated to the U.S. from El Salvador as a teenager.  Unfortunately, we encounter very few other Hispanic people in the appellate world here. Our courts serve everyone – people from all walks of life. Having a bench that reflects the communities that we serve promotes confidence in the legal system, the rule of law, and the notion that justice is truly equal. Having judges who bring a variety of life experiences and perspectives to the table leads to richer, fuller, and better decision making. Particularly on a multi-member court, those differing perspectives help us catch each other’s blind spots. Finally, having a diverse bench not only dispels stereotypes but importantly, establishes role models for all groups. In other words, it’s easier for young people to aspire to be something they can see.  

What advice would you give to a law student of color who aspires to be where you are now?

First, take good care of yourself. This is a tough profession, and if you don’t prioritize your own well-being, it is easy to burn out. Sleep, exercise, good nutrition, mental health breaks – all are critical to performing at your best as a lawyer, and in life. Figure out what you need to recharge your body and spirit and make sure you schedule time to do those things. Your own well-being is the foundation for all else.

Second, find mentors! They make all the difference in your life. Mentors come in all forms and phases of your career. I still have mentors today! Seek out their feedback and guidance and be willing to accept their constructive criticism. You’ll be a better lawyer for it, I promise.

Third, know that your reputation is everything in this profession. You don’t build that overnight. It is the cumulative product of every interaction you have, every day, with everyone in the community, starting in law school! So be mindful of how you treat everyone, not just professors or judges, but opposing counsel, court staff, witnesses, jurors, the people who clean the building at night; everyone. Be gracious. Every day matters. Every encounter matters. Your actions—positive or negative—have ripple effects in the community over time that you can’t even imagine today.

Finally, trust that you belong in this profession. Always be your authentic self, and you will shine.

What’s one thing law schools and/or the appellate bar can do to ensure our highest courts are representative of all our communities?

Expose students to opportunities – for internships, for clerkships, for mentorship. We are working diligently to diversify the legal profession and the bench in Colorado by encouraging diverse students and attorneys to consider a career on the bench through a host of programs and initiatives led by our Head of Judicial Diversity Outreach, a position created by the state legislature in 2019. More information about these programs can be found on our website and in our annual report. We are excited to continue building on these efforts in the coming years.